40. The Master of Spies #2
Varinis’s gaze promised blood. His nose flared in anger and he bared his teeth, pressing his knife deeper into Kaiden’s throat.
Kaiden leaned back, attempting to create room between his skin and the blade.
“I’m curious, shadow,” Varinis hissed. “If we went toe-to-toe, who would walk away?”
“You know the answer.” Jasper’s hands were unmoving.
“Shall we wager on it, again?” Varinis smiled. “After all, ou sèlman bon tankou yon frè san.”
Kaiden blinked at the foreign dialect. What the depths?
Jasper stiffened. His eyes went wholly black and he dared a glance at Kaiden. “Release him,” he seethed. “Or I will kill you.”
Did Jasper understand Varinis’s words? Kaiden watched as Jasper’s head twitched with unbridled rage. He buried the burning questions of Jasper’s past and focused on the dagger still angled against his skin.
Varinis wore a mask of indifference at Jasper’s threat. It didn’t matter if he lived or died as long as he won something in the end. In this instance, it would be Kaiden’s life.
Kaiden tried not to shudder or move underneath the cold steel. “I know you’re angry with me.”
“Angry?” Varinis practically shook. “You came here, raising your white flag, discussing allies, and yet you plot behind my back! I had assets in those mines. You don’t just walk into someone else’s home and start blowing shit up!”
Kaiden swallowed. The motion made the blade slice against his throat, bringing blood.
Varinis’s growl was cut off as Jasper nudged his sword into his back in warning.
“Let’s all take a step back and think,” Jasper said. “We need each other. We need to work together.”
“Ha! You expect me to work with you. You’re worse than The Paradox and the lowlifes filling this city.” A vein throbbed on Varinis’s forehead. He no doubt was fighting the urge to slit Kaiden’s throat and end everything now.
“Yes, we’ve made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrongs we will atone for the rest of our lives.
But that’s not important right now. What’s important is the survival of Peraynia and the people in it, please.
” It was getting harder to draw breath. “We were friends once, Varinis. I’ve put my differences aside. Can you?”
A moment of silence before Varinis’s face contorted in disgust. “I’m only doing this to get what I want.”
A win is a win.
Ever so slowly Varinis backed away, lowering his knife. He shoved Jasper off his shoulder and stared them both down. “This is the second time I’ve allowed you to live. Remember that.”
“I –”
The window shattered as an orb of light flew into the room. A small living flame in the form of a phoenix zipped in front of Kaiden’s face like the dancing sprites his mother would read to Cahira from their childhood storybooks.
“Something’s happened.” Kaiden lifted the small phoenix in his outstretched hand to his ear. It’s quiet whispers buzzed in his ear, tickling and vibrating his skin. “They’re captured by the elders.”
“They?” Varinis asked.
“Cahira.” Jasper answered.
Varinis’s smile grew wicked and Kaiden was thankful he held the little phoenix, so his hands didn’t wrap around Varinis’s throat.
“As enjoyable as Cahira is each time I see her, she’s not in my plans of rescue today.” Varinis walked to the door.
“Aradia,” Kaiden added, watching Varinis stop in his tracks, “is also with her.”
Varinis turned slowly.
“They were taken by Master Crane.”
“If they’re taken by Crane, he’ll lock them in the vaults underneath the citadel.”
“How hard is it to break into?” Jasper asked.
“Practically impossible,” Varinis said.
Kaiden’s heart sank.
“For anyone but me.” Varinis flicked a piece of glass off his shoulder.
“Why’s that?” Jasper’s voice held a tint of suspicion.
“Because while the elders believe they have the city on lockdown, the true power runs through me. Every guard on the council answers to me. I’ll have the council locked in their own cells, by night's end. It’s time to take back my city.”
He was impressed by the spy. But Varinis wasn’t just any average spy.
He had spent his entire adolescence as a slave fighter in the dirty and twisted rings of Randale’s underground fight clubs.
Earning his freedom when one fight landed him on death’s door.
He had survived and was able to walk away free, only to starve and scavenge the streets for years.
How he had built an entire empire of spies and networking with guards and elders, kings and queens, Kaiden didn’t have a clue.
Varinis had intel on everyone no matter what kingdom they resided in.
“Alright.” Kaiden straightened. He released the phoenix and it quickly evaporated into a cloud of smoke; its job done. “Let's go get them.”
Varinis opened the door and dipped down in a mocking bow. “After you, Princey.”
The walk to the vaults was a maze of underground passages.
He was lost after the seventh turn but Varinis walked with confidence, knowing his home like the back of his hand.
A door was at the end of their route. Soft chatter on the other side was heard through thick walls.
Varinis tapped twice, paused, and then one hard knock.
The door swung wide from the other side and Varinis walked through, into the hallways of the vault.
“Hm,” Jasper whispered. “Useful.”
“What can take almost an hour to get through one section of the city only takes a few short minutes underground.” Varinis walked through the hallways, nodding to a guard.
Kaiden almost didn’t believe the respect the guards held for Varinis.
Each one bowed their heads slightly as Varinis walked freely.
Perhaps the people would welcome Varinis as a ruler after all.
Kaiden pulled his cloak higher above his head, covering his features.
Just because Varinis had the guards in his pocket didn’t mean they would take a liking to having him there.
“We’re looking for two girls Crane would have dragged down here,” Varinis said to a guard.
“Yea, he put ‘em in the last cell to the left,” the guard said.
Varinis nodded and glanced back at Kaiden.
He wasted no time walking to the end of the hall. “Cahira?”
His eyes adjusted to the dim light as two forms came into view. The girls were in chains that wrapped around their ankles and locked them into the wall behind. With just enough room to move around and reach toward the bars.
“About damned time,” Cahira breathed a sigh of relief as she reached between the bars and clasped Kaiden’s hand.
Kaiden squinted into the darkness as Aradia came into view.
Aside from the frightened and tired eyes, she looked otherwise well.
Cahira, on the other hand, looked as if she had brawled with an entire tavern.
Her hair was mussed from her braid, and a knot was forming on the side of her temple.
A split lip and dark circles under her eyes topped off her captivity.
“What happened?” Kaiden asked.
Cahira glanced at Aradia. “It’s a long story.”
“Jasper,” Kaiden called behind him.
Jasper’s shadowed hand grasped the bar and the lock below. His magic swirled around him and into the lock as a small click sounded and the door sprang open.
Cahira hugged Jasper. “Am I glad to see you.”
Jasper stiffened at her touch but accepted the hug.
“Are you okay?” Kaiden turned his attention to Aradia who smiled weakly.
“It’s my fault we were captured,” she said.
His feet were moving before his mind could tell him to stop as he wrapped his arms around her small form.
Aradia’s arms wrapped around his waist and she pulled herself closer to him. A rattled sigh shook her shoulders like she was holding in her tears.
“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. His words were muffled by the curls on the top of her head and he breathed deeply the scented soap she used.
Kaiden’s body tensed as Varinis stepped into the light beside him.
“Hello, Aradia.” A grin only the Master of Spies could obtain lifted Varinis’s face. His eyes devoured Aradia as if he was parched and she were the only water around.